Paddler aims to break world record
22 October 2007, 10:06
By Ntokozo Mfusi
A Durban man is on a 24-hour paddle in an attempt to break a 23-year-old world record.
A year's preparation has finally got Simon Blackburn, 40, who has been kayaking for 30 years, ready physically and mentally for the gruelling paddle at sea that began at Richards Bay on Sunday afternoon and ends at Port Shepstone about 4pm on Monday.
"I have been waiting for four months to get the right weather to ensure I can take this trip," said Blackburn, of Morningside, minutes before he began his journey on Sunday.
"The ideal weather was to get the north-east wind, which flows in the same direction as the Mozambique current heading towards Port Shepstone," he said.
Blackburn, son of Molly Blackburn, an activist and ANC supporter who died in a mysterious car accident in 1985, is hoping to break American Randy Fine's world record for the longest paddle at sea.
Fine paddled 194,1km on the Californian coast in June 1986.
"My goal is to paddle 250km. If I have time, I will carry on to make it very hard for anyone who attempts to break my record," Blackburn said.
He is accompanied by cameramen and support staff in a boat.
"I will be going 40km to 50km offshore and need a back-up boat for safety," he said.
"I will have to follow the Guinness world record rules, which require me to stop at intervals of an hour and a half, and it is during these intervals that I will be taking in high-energy foods and substances such as energy drinks and bars, as well as stretching out my legs," he said.
Blackburn's paddle is in preparation for his dream to do the Africa Challenge and to become the first surf ski paddler to reach 320 000km.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is the patron of the challenge, and Blackburn hopes Tutu will see him off in September next year when he sets off from Cape Town to embark on the 22-month trip around Africa to raise HIV and Aids awareness.
Blackburn would return to South Africa just in time for the soccer World Cup in 2010.
ntokozo.mfusi@inl.co.za
A Durban man is on a 24-hour paddle in an attempt to break a 23-year-old world record.
A year's preparation has finally got Simon Blackburn, 40, who has been kayaking for 30 years, ready physically and mentally for the gruelling paddle at sea that began at Richards Bay on Sunday afternoon and ends at Port Shepstone about 4pm on Monday.
"I have been waiting for four months to get the right weather to ensure I can take this trip," said Blackburn, of Morningside, minutes before he began his journey on Sunday.
"The ideal weather was to get the north-east wind, which flows in the same direction as the Mozambique current heading towards Port Shepstone," he said.
Blackburn, son of Molly Blackburn, an activist and ANC supporter who died in a mysterious car accident in 1985, is hoping to break American Randy Fine's world record for the longest paddle at sea.
Fine paddled 194,1km on the Californian coast in June 1986.
"My goal is to paddle 250km. If I have time, I will carry on to make it very hard for anyone who attempts to break my record," Blackburn said.
He is accompanied by cameramen and support staff in a boat.
"I will be going 40km to 50km offshore and need a back-up boat for safety," he said.
"I will have to follow the Guinness world record rules, which require me to stop at intervals of an hour and a half, and it is during these intervals that I will be taking in high-energy foods and substances such as energy drinks and bars, as well as stretching out my legs," he said.
Blackburn's paddle is in preparation for his dream to do the Africa Challenge and to become the first surf ski paddler to reach 320 000km.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is the patron of the challenge, and Blackburn hopes Tutu will see him off in September next year when he sets off from Cape Town to embark on the 22-month trip around Africa to raise HIV and Aids awareness.
Blackburn would return to South Africa just in time for the soccer World Cup in 2010.
ntokozo.mfusi@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on October 22, 2007
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